My First Deal: SFH Buy & Hold Rental in Houston
My partner and I started looking into REI since Q4, 2015. We knew it was a hard year to get in for a newbie investor but we didn't give up. We started out by listening to the BP pod casts on 1 of our longest road trip together (by the way, that's one of the best way to get lots of BP pod casts done in 1 sitting!).
So by then, we were motivated but we knew we still needed to figure out a plan to acquire our first deal.
Here are the key questions to think through before you get it going:
1) what do you want to buy
2) how much can we afford
3) how will you pay for it
3) what are you going to do with it after
Here is how we tackled this challenge:
1) Find a reputable and responsive agent to work with: we worked with @Sharon Tzib
2) Get pre-qualified with a good and local lender that work with investors: we usedd Rochelle Frazeur from New American.
3) Use some good MLS criteria to set up lists with your agent
3) Find out how to identify a good deal: We got our hands on some good cash flow analysis calculators (thanks to @Sharon Tzib) and we used the calculators on BP as well
4) Make neighborhood visits to those areas of your interest
5) Find other venues to meet up with other investors or go to workshops and meet up's: We've attended BP meet up in Houston, events with Jet Lending, meeting with Wholesalers, and we've met one-on-one with other investors
6) Look for non-MLS sources to find properties for sale: wholesalers, and local listing through Rich club or word of the mouth
7) Talk to the property manager if you are planning on using on. We use @Jerry Ta and he has helped to stay away from certain choices and helped us to run comp's as well.
So what did we get?
Our first deal is a SFH that we found from the Rich Club Property Listing. It's a 3/2/2 with a nice backyard. It's in decent condition and we were able to get it at 76k and it currently rents at 1100 a month (with some minor renovation because the existing tenants moved out right after we closed on the property).
We are very happy that we were able to stay on task and use all the help we needed to get to where we are today and I am hoping by sharing my story and resources, it will help you to do the same and more.